Bonds of Blood and Honor

Ondrew Locke

Ondrew is a much respected lord and a veteran of many wars. He fought beside the Starks at the Ruby Ford and later took up arms to throw down Balon Greyjoy’s rebellion. His health is failing him now and he wishes to secure the future of his house before his days are through. His health prevents him from most travel and most of the responsibilities of running House Locke now falls to family and trusted advisors.

Lord Locke is ailing, old and enfeebled, and despite near-constant care from the house
maester, it is clear that he will not live for many years. He is bedridden most of the time,
incapable of making any journeys from Oldcastle. Lord Locke was once a doughty warrior,
honourable and vigorous, but time and a wasting disease have stricken him fully; now he
spends most days upon what will be his deathbed. When he is able to rise he cannot go far, and
the chill of the outside air, once a balm to his strong lungs, now sends him into paroxysms of
choking coughs. Ondrew has lost none of his wits, despite his physical frailty, and has begun
to put his affairs into order, seeing to the management of his house and the eventual transfer
of lordship to a worthy heir.

Ondrew is tall and gaunt, with a grizzled short beard, a mane of wildly-unkempt hair,
and a rough voice torn raw from years of shouting orders across battlefield lines. Currently,
he is terribly thin, often able to speak only in a whisper, and his hands are tremulous and
weak, barely able to hold utensils while he eats. Ondrew is often wracked with bouts of
coughing or wheezing, and blood comes up more often than not when he has these fits. The
house’s maester, Maester Sewell, does what he can for Ondrew, but believes that the man’s life is to be measured in months, not years.

When not abed, Lord Locke is to be found in his massive carved wooden chair in the
great hall of Oldcastle, swathed in thick layers of a fur-lined cloak and heavy blankets. From
here, he oversees much of the house’s business, though this has of late fallen to Lady Celia Locke (his second wife – his first wife was Emelyn) and his youngest brother, Ser Godfrey Locke.

In his younger days, Ondrew fought many campaigns for his lord of Winterfell, battling
wildlings, raiders, and even other Northmen. Locke has a long history of violence with House
Bolton, and Lord Ondrew and the now-deceased Lord Bolton had a long standing enmity over
certain territories, rights, and interests.